Desert Island VIII Master List, Part One

[phanan]

And tomorrow, talk about a 180 degree turn between playlists. LM will be up next.

 

[cobl04]

i'm also listening to collapse's list. from the outset i must say that there are pretty much only two types of music i hate: manufactured/radio-friendly faux-pop/rock/rap garbage/tripe (eg, Hey Soul Sister, Let it Rock, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and so on) and metal.

but i kept an open mind going into your playlist. i've finished the first part and i've gotta say i didn't enjoy it. metal is not my genre. there were sections of the music that i enjoyed - the music in the Agalloch song was pretty good! - but i don't like the thrash of the guitar/drums/bass and i especially can't stand the vocals. that "Kids Must Be Asleep" song was pretty good though, there was a short part in it that reminded me of the murky solo in Love is Blindness.

 

[Reggo]

Reggo

Highlight: I could say the first ten songs but I think I’ll narrow it down to the Tori Amos-Passengers-Celtic Frost stretch. It has the feel of a gothic horror film.

Favorite Aspect: If the intention was to create a feeling of insanity then the playlist did it better than I imagine any could. There was a nightmarish quality throughout it and I was surprised by how dark it was. It was very well done.

Other things I liked:
1. I loved the fearlessness to actually make a playlist like this and stick with the mood the whole way through.
2. I liked that Steve Wilson was the first sustained singing we hear on the place. He has the perfect combination of melancholy and otherworldliness that defines the playlist as a whole.
3. I liked the Worlock track with the clips of Helter Skelter after the fantastic Siouxsie & The Banshees cover of that track.
4. The string version of Unforgettable Fire. God do I love that song and the string version brought the gorgeous qualities of the original track.

Why thank you, Mr Screwtape. I was worried everyone would hate it.


I'm giving yours another listen this afternoon. I'll post my review later tonight.

 

[Reggo]

A few comments:
3. Reggo's list especially interests me because I want to hear that Sunn O))) song. Or anything by them, really.

Wellllllll.....the song I picked probably isn't the best Sunn O))) track to introduce yourself to the band with... just sayin'

 

[bono_212]

Ok, finally got my list in, it only took an extra week and three PMs.

I have avoided looking in to this thread until I was done, and boy oh boy am I excited by what I see. Screw, your list is looking awesome, Collapse, I only have even heard of a handful of bands on your list, so I'm quite intrigued, iYup I like the way your list looks, and I'm very excited that you used "Bored Games" because I had to nix the song in favor of "Drifter" so I'm glad both songs are getting out there for people to hear. Reggo, your list looks fucked up, this is gonna be fun. Travis, yeah, your list is going to be a blast.

Will start listening tomorrow. I have a lot of time on my hands now that I'm finally done making my list .

 

[phanan]

Listened to the current king of DI's playlist today. He obviously didn't disappoint. As expected, the sequencing and cohesion are first rate (probably the only one I didn't care for was Touch The Sky -> One More Time), and song selections are top notch. Favorite parts were...well, pretty much the whole thing once I got passed Michael Jackson, who I'm sorry to say I've never taken a liking to aside from a handful of songs.

I'll point out a particularly strong section - One More Time all the way through to Tribulations. That was sweet. Good use of using the Lights & Music single version going into Raquel, and it's interesting that you have Madonna paired with Dare, as I have a specific song sequence that I've never used that has Hung Up back to back with it. Kind of funny that you used the next song on that album to go with it on yours.

So yeah, that was great.

iron yuppie's on deck for tomorrow...

 

[iron yuppie]

I listened to Screwtape's list tonight. It was an eclectic experience, but a few tracks in particular stand out to me.

Radioactivity: although I am familiar with their legacy, this is the first Kraftwerk song that I have ever heard, and it thoroughly captivated me. I was shocked to learn that it was recorded in the mid-seventies, as it sounds remarkably fresh and contemporary. I will definitely be looking into this band's discography.

That Cyclone and Souvlaki Space Station: both of these were gorgeous, haunting pieces. The former was especially powerful. As with the most effective atmospheric pieces, it seems to transport the listener to a different time and place.

Films: I am only familiar with Gary Numan through the ubiquitous "Cars," but this track tells me that I need to hear more from him.

I also loved the inclusion of Moz and Bat for Lashes ("Glass" was a track that I desperately wanted to fit into my list), as well as the deep cuts from The Cure and Depeche Mode. "Delirious Night" is about as obscure a Cure track as there is, but it certainly deserves to be heard. It functioned wonderfully as a counterpart to the tribal rhythms of the opening track.

That I now have at least five artists into whom to look further is testament to the strength of this list. It was a valuable listen for me.

 

[phanan]

Kraftwerk are one of my faves. Not sure what Screwtape's favorite album is of theirs (perhaps it is Radioactivity), but I'd recommend The Man Machine. Stellar from start to finish, although you can't go wrong with anything from Autobahn to Computer World.

 

[Reggo]

Reggo, your list looks fucked up.

My work here is done.

 

[cobl04]

Final thoughts on collapse's list: I can't say I likes your list but I will say it was interesting and I was never really tempted to turn it off despite my aforementioned distaste for metal.

I liked the moodier songs in the second part, so the Whirl and Twin Panda songs I think. The third part I enjoyed the most, not so much metal. Bully Plank was cool, the Underworld song a good bit of dance (also responsible for Born Slippy?), decent Jay-Z/Radiohead mashup. Marysal was absolutely gorgeous I thought, surely to be one of the best songs of the comp.

So overall I doubt it will rank highly with me but that's just my dislike for metal so don't worry about that!

 

[bono_212]

Collapse, listening to your list now. I had to skip the 4th song though because I have to use Grooveshark to hear it, and I can't seem to find that particular track. I'll download it later when I get a chance, but it didn't hurt the flow too badly.

Anyways, I'll comment back at the end of this section, but for now, I'm actually enjoying this quite a bit.

 

[Screwtape2]

I listened to Screwtape's list tonight. It was an eclectic experience, but a few tracks in particular stand out to me.

Radioactivity: although I am familiar with their legacy, this is the first Kraftwerk song that I have ever heard, and it thoroughly captivated me. I was shocked to learn that it was recorded in the mid-seventies, as it sounds remarkably fresh and contemporary. I will definitely be looking into this band's discography.

That Cyclone and Souvlaki Space Station: both of these were gorgeous, haunting pieces. The former was especially powerful. As with the most effective atmospheric pieces, it seems to transport the listener to a different time and place.

Films: I am only familiar with Gary Numan through the ubiquitous "Cars," but this track tells me that I need to hear more from him.

I also loved the inclusion of Moz and Bat for Lashes ("Glass" was a track that I desperately wanted to fit into my list), as well as the deep cuts from The Cure and Depeche Mode. "Delirious Night" is about as obscure a Cure track as there is, but it certainly deserves to be heard. It functioned wonderfully as a counterpart to the tribal rhythms of the opening track.

That I now have at least five artists into whom to look further is testament to the strength of this list. It was a valuable listen for me.

Thanks for the review and kind words. I am glad it opened you up to some new artists.

Two things:
1. If you look into Najwa Nimri you should also check out her work in the duo Najwajean.
YouTube - Najwajean - Singing

2. The original 1975 version of Radioactivity is the better and more haunting version. I used the version from the Mix for momentum reasons. I agree that it is stunning to think this stuff was made in the mid-70's.
YouTube - KRAFTWERK - Radio-Aktivitat - 1975

Kraftwerk are one of my faves. Not sure what Screwtape's favorite album is of theirs (perhaps it is Radioactivity), but I'd recommend The Man Machine. Stellar from start to finish, although you can't go wrong with anything from Autobahn to Computer World.

My personal favorite is Electric Cafe. The title track, Sex Objekt and Der Telefon Anruf would all be in my top ten Kraftwerk songs. I agree with you though that the The Man-Machine is best album to start with.

 

[bono_212]

Collapse, just finished the second section of the last. Must say it's far superior to the fist (not that I hated the first or anything, but I can only take so much ). I found that it flowed rather well (thought it was odd to have what was essentially an intro song in the middle of the list) and I can't say no to any Post-Rock.

The highlight of the list so far has still been the Jetpack song from the first section, however.

 

[bono_212]

Finishing up now, Section three is incredibly tight, really enjoyed the songs as well, like legitimately liked them.

Section four lacks any cohesion whatsoever, but probably produced my favorite batch of songs.

Overall, it was a nice list and it's always interesting to see how ones of this nature are going to go down. Not my style of music by any means, however, so I can't say that I loved it.

 

[Joey788]

Just got through LemonMelon's playlist. Some thoughts:

Highlights:
- “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” was a brilliant choice as an opener. Introduced the party mood as well as just being a great song. Segued nicely into “One Nation Under A Groove” as well.
- I love the way it moved through different styles gradually and in a very natural way, especially how you move from 70s soul to Kanye West, Daft Punk, and other modern dance movements.
- You have “DARE” on this playlist. That song is probably my favorite by Gorillaz so you get big thumbs up from me for that.
- Never heard anything by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings or The Streets but I’m a big fan of both selections.
- Not really an LCD Soundsystem fan but I like the song selected. Worked well into The Go! Team too.
- Loved the Annie song. I need to check out more from them.

Things that didn’t work for me:
- Thought the transition from De La Soul into Todd Rundgren was off.
- Wasn’t a fan of the Sam and Dave and The Four Tops songs.
- There’s some sort of noise at the end of “My Cherie Amour” that interrupts an otherwise good transition into “Ain’t No Way.”
- I’ve had bad experiences with Crystal Castles live and sadly this song didn’t change my opinion of them.
- I’m not really a fan of hardcore rap so I didn't enjoy that later section much.

All in all, good way for me to start D.I. VIII. Definitely got me more interested in dance music than I was before.

 

[Reggo]

Screwtape's Does The Metropolis Dream of Innocence?

One of the things I enjoy about all your lists is we're guaranteed some world music we might not have otherwise heard.

I love the atmosphere you created, it remind me of Watchmen. In that universe, if you walked into one of the clubs owned by Adrian Veidt, this is the mix the DJ would be playing. Something to reflect those desperate times. And maybe something to reflect the current desperate times, expressed through dark 80's pop music, where there aren't too many laughs anymore. But what do you expect? The Comedian's dead. Not sure if that's what you were going for, but that's what I got out of it.

Favourite part: The Depeche Mode-Duran Duran stretch. Absolutely fabulous. A close second is the Siouxsie and the Banshees-David Bowie stretch.

A very, very good, solid list.

P.S., for some reason I kept expecting to hear Cake's "Going The Distance". I don't know why.

 

[LemonMelon]

- Wasn’t a fan of the Four Tops song

That has been and always will be my jam.

Really glad to see everyone is digging my list well enough. As long as everyone has fun, my goal was accomplished. DI is too heavy-handed sometimes.

Starting with Screw's list first because I have some reading to do tonight. Seems to be the most appropriate of the available batch for such an activity.

 

[Screwtape2]

Screwtape's Does The Metropolis Dream of Innocence?

One of the things I enjoy about all your lists is we're guaranteed some world music we might not have otherwise heard.

I love the atmosphere you created, it remind me of Watchmen. In that universe, if you walked into one of the clubs owned by Adrian Veidt, this is the mix the DJ would be playing. Something to reflect those desperate times. And maybe something to reflect the current desperate times, expressed through dark 80's pop music, where there aren't too many laughs anymore. But what do you expect? The Comedian's dead. Not sure if that's what you were going for, but that's what I got out of it.

Thanks. I have not read or seen the film adaption of Watchmen yet. I probably should now based on the comparisons. I am glad you liked the playlist.

 

[bono_212]

Screw, your list was superb, I literally enjoyed it from beginning to end and it felt like the flow/cohesion was right there along with some fairly great song selection.

Biggest highlight for me was that track by The Glove, never heard anything by them, but I liked that song quite a bit.

If I had to offer any one criticism, I'd have to say I wasn't quite as blown away by the last few tracks.

Anyways, great job.

 

[bono_212]

Everything looks great. Love that Screw has that Faithless song.

Oh yeah, this song was kind of awesome as well and was a bit of a surprise coming from Screw, whatever that means.

 

[Reggo]

LeMel's Lights & Music

I'm a sucker for Motown love songs, so I greatly enjoyed the first half. The list in general has a great groove and I like that you said this list was all about having fun. Nice to be able to listen to something without having to also figure out what the list's maker was going for.

This could be my distaste for hip-hop or something, but your list had a little bit of ending fatigue. Kept thinking it had made its crescendo only to find out there were more tracks to go. I would've let it fade out with Sunshine and/or Feelin' It. But that's just me.

Favourite part: The Supremes-Isaac Hayes stretch. I am a huge sucker for Motown, for real.

Nice work, Traviud.

 

[Axver]

So, collapse, three days later than I planned, I gave your list a spin.

Now, obviously I loved the Agalloch, Sleep, and Opeth tracks - I mean, Bleak is my favourite Opeth song, and I used it in my own first DI entry years back. Otherwise, though, you came at the metal stuff from a different angle to me, with some bands I'd never really choose to listen to ... and a couple I'd meant to get around to, like Envy. Unexpectedly I dug the Kylesa song; I've heard one of their other albums (the title escapes me right now) and didn't care for it.

I'm going to have to differ from phanan and say that I didn't really notice much in the way of awkwardly incohesive passages or glaringly bad transitions. I thought it was quite a sound first effort, and you did a good job bookending Falling Snow at both ends. The one transition that I'm stunned you made work was that Bring Me The Horizon --> The Middle East segue. When I saw that in the original post, I was all "what?!" but you pulled it off. Still, that Bring Me The Horizon song is the one track I truly disliked on the list; no surprise, as I've always said BMTH can blow me.

Biggest surprise was the Underworld track. I only know them for Underneath The Radar (though with an awareness that is not exactly representative of their output). Bird 1 killed. That song by Childs was pretty good too.

I think I liked the second part most, followed by the first and third tied, and finally the fourth part. Really good effort; expect it to be one of my favourites come the end. Nice to see a list like this in the tournament - it's been too long coming, and I'm enjoying not being the sole flagbearer for certain genres in DI.

 

[Reggo]

Thanks. I have not read or seen the film adaption of Watchmen yet. I probably should now based on the comparisons. I am glad you liked the playlist.

You should! I mean, it's a dark story, but your list just goes so well with everything that happens in it, I'm a little surprised you haven't. Like, Blondie's "Atomic" mirrors Laurie's relationship with John/Dr Manhattan. I'm a nerd and could go on, but I won't. Please see the movie at least.

 

[bono_212]

Was just getting ready to listen to The Glove's album and saw who was in it . No wonder I thought they sounded like The Cure. This is that band that a bunch of people have been telling me to listen to for the last couple of years. Well, I'm listening to Blue Sunshine now.

 

[iron yuppie]

Well, I'm listening to Blue Sunshine now.

Please report on what you think of it. I have been meaning to hear that album for a long time.

 

[Screwtape2]

Screw, your list was superb, I literally enjoyed it from beginning to end and it felt like the flow/cohesion was right there along with some fairly great song selection.

Biggest highlight for me was that track by The Glove, never heard anything by them, but I liked that song quite a bit.

Thanks. I am glad you are checking out Blue Sunshine. It is definitely a lost gem of the 80's.

 

[Reggo]

Looking forward to listening to iron yuppie's list today. Just from the track list, I can tell this will be enjoyable. Full review will be posted this afternoon or tonight.

 

[cobl04]

downloading lemel's list as we speak. greatly looking forward to it. FANTASTIC LCD choice.

 

[iron yuppie]

I just finished Reggo's list. Let me just say that this one felt apocalyptic. I definitely heard the ominous undercurrents that others have commented upon, which suggests that this playlist has been highly successful in creating and sustaining a certain mood.

Here are a few highlights:

The stretch from "Revolution 9" to "Lullaby" was almost disturbingly cohesive, and I loved the inclusion of "Subway Song."

On some days, "Please" is among my top three U2 songs, and its inclusion here did an example job of highlighting a somber element to U2's music that is too often forgotten.

The Sunn O))) track developed in a hypnotic manner; I remained thoroughly interested throughout the entire sixteen minutes.

I was unfamiliar with most of the artists included here, so I was forced from my comfort zone; the experience, however, was rewarding.

 

[phanan]

Listened to the first half of iron yuppie's yesterday and the second part today.

It's never a bad thing to start off with a little M83. And the twofer of Fleet Foxes and Floyd was great - and you get bonus points for the Cirrus Minor selection. Also love the back to back of the Stones and White Stripes, and you chose a classic Elton John song. I've never been able to get into Antony & The Johnsons, but that was really the only thing I didn't care for in that section.

For the Night portion of your playlist, you have one of my all-time favorite Depeche Mode songs kicking things off. Fever Ray's fantastic cover of Mercy Street is a nice addition, and classic songs by LCD and The National never hurt. As others will tell you, I'm not much of a Bowie fan, but I respect what he does. Also don't like Björk, but you've got one of the best Smiths tunes right before it, so at least there's that. And I'd be remiss in not mentioning how you sprinkled a little jazz into your playlist quite deftly. A nice touch.

In the end, it's probably obvious that I enjoyed listening to this. Great job.